Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Back Again, Thoughts on Tier 3

After a two week vacation from WoW, I decided to reinstall. Yeah, I'm an addict. Still, taking a break from WoW every once in a while is a good thing. So let me post with some thoughts on Tier 3.

There is a schism in the paladin and raiding community. On one side you have restrictive guilds, who believe that paladins should just stay back and heal. On the other side you have free guilds who believe that paladins should melee and heal. And because the stakes are so low, both sides regard the other as heretics.

(Personal bias: I am firmly in the 'melee and heal' camp.)

The problem with Tier 3 is that it is a clear sign that Blizzard thinks the restrictive guilds are correct.

Of course, the counter-argument is that Blizzard just made a healadin set, like Avenger was a Retribution set. However, I don't think that people really see the Tier sets in that manner. To my mind, Tier sets are your default upgrade path as you progress through the endgame. A warrior replaces her Might armor with Wrath. She will replace Wrath with Dreadnaught. A similar progression happens with the other classes, and should happen with paladins. Redemption should replace Judgement which replaced Lawbringer.

Judgement is the perfect 'base' armor for paladins. It's not the best healing armor, it's not the best damage armor, but it's a solid base set. A hybrid set for a hybrid class. There have always been healing pieces (Peacekeeper, for example) and damage pieces (Legguards of the Fallen Crusader), but the Tier set functions as a solid base.

If Redemption had been an extra set in Naxx, it would have been great. I have extra pure healing gear, just like every other paladin. But for Redemption to be the base, the 'default' set, is an argument that almost totally destroys the 'melee and heal' side of the paladin schism.